Originally posted by fewtch So, I left a negative feedback for that seller (false description) and am now bidding on a modest but nice belt-drive Technics SL-B2, and the seller is local so I can pick it up & save on shipping. Only thing is, this is gonna take some tweaking, it's not a "plug & play" turntable... time to start thinking about a stylus force gauge and alignment protractor... ... maybe a nice new Grado Prestige Black, that should about fit the quality of the turntable.

As for the phono preamp thing, that's taken care of -- Music Hall MMF-1. Sounds pretty good to me, although the S/N ratio is not so great. Probably about on the level of the NAD-PP1. It will suffice.

Sucks about the ebay ripoff.. Hey, tweaking is good.. you can get that cart setup right, and it'll give you the sound it's supposed to.. (needle angle can give you emphasized highs or lows when off the "sweet spot")

Don't tell me you haven't gotten an alignment protractor yet?? You didn't have the other TT set up without using a protractor?? Thought I sent you the link to the free for a SASE "enjoy the music.com" cardboard protractor... that'll save you some bux.

Sucks about the ebay ripoff.. Hey, tweaking is good.. you can get that cart setup right, and it'll give you the sound it's supposed to.. (needle angle can give you emphasized highs or lows when off the "sweet spot")

Don't tell me you haven't gotten an alignment protractor yet?? You didn't have the other TT set up without using a protractor?? Thought I sent you the link to the free for a SASE "enjoy the music.com" cardboard protractor... that'll save you some bux.

Jon

True about the tweaking... I guess it's good, and only needs to be done once in awhile.

BTW, I ran into that "Enjoy the music" free protractor offer today, and sent out an SASE. I'd still have to pay for a stylus force gauge though, unless I just want to guess (probably not a very good idea). Then again, they're only $15-$20.

Interesting... It's nice to see how he tries to demistify all the audiophile legends and myths over audio equipment, but at the same time it's curious to see how he falls into some of these myths concerning analog and digital sound, cd players and tubes.

The groove on a record is a tiny reproduction of the sound waves pulsing through the air at a musical event. A cartridge stylus uses the groove ridges and valleys to generate a signal, which is amplified to drive a pair of speakers.

Conversely, a CD contains a musical event that has been continually sampled by a computer and turned into streams of bits meant to approximate the constantly changing recorded sound wave.

Rock musician Neil Young has expressed similar opinions in an essay he published on the problems with digital sound. In fact, Young so dislikes digital that his contract has required his record company to release all his recordings on vinyl as well as CD.

Like many analog disciples, he describes the result in almost spiritual terms.

Uhhh, yeah, but the idea of digital and all this "measurement" is to get out exactly what you put in, without slowly but surely killing the spirit. Once you take care of that, the concern shifts to shelf life and aging.

I must add, because people could take the above as granted, that the "approxiamtion" made by digital measurment in 24 bits is below the the thermal noise of a resistor. Analog is no way more "accurate" than digital, since it is affected by approximations one order of magnitude bigger than digital.

Everyone is still missing the point. Music is meant to be enjoyed, felt, set the mood. Not analzied or even have an intellecual discussion about. Now I do enjoy disscusing ways to recreate it,store it, even tweak it.
digital is a whole new ballgame for me. I enjoy it emensly. However for kicking back and getting lost in the music to me there is nothing that competes with analog. No need to discuss analog over digital because it is a matter of preverance and it seems that digital freaks won't change the opinions of analog freaks or vice versa.
Converting my analog to digital and burning cd's have become my #1 past time However you could never convince me or any other vinyl freak that digital sounds better...Sorry.

BTW: No need to throw logic into this because there is no logic to emotions (Sweet Emotions)

I have nothing against vinyl, especially discs that were pressed (by people who care) when the master tapes were new... but I get (overly) freaked out when I see just a little bit of vinyl dust on the stylus. I'm too paranoid to enjoy myself.

Perhaps if I had better vinyl equipment and a better selection of recordings I would feel differently.

In the meantime I'll just put the 1997 re-issue of Kind of Blue by Miles Davis or Pat Metheny Group's 'Quartet' in the CD player, sit back, and lose myself in the music...

Hey Craig
Some of your equipment I was not familar with, so I looked them up.....Man your way out of my league. I'd have to morgage my home to buy your equipment. Checked out the specs. Nice system.
I'm Humbled!!

Originally posted by smg No need to discuss analog over digital because it is a matter of preverance and it seems that digital freaks won't change the opinions of analog freaks or vice versa.

Is it "ok" to be neither a "digital freak" nor an "analog freak" but simply to enjoy music? I agree, the "analog vs. digital" discussion [b]does miss the point. Listen the way you like (and can afford) and enjoy, music is for everyone.

I agree wholeheartedly with that last statement. I am a musician and love music, analog or digital, mp3 or CD, 70's amp or 90's amp. While the pundits debate the ages-old analog-digital question, I will be enjoying my music, whether it's crackly analog record cleaned up with Wave Corrector, a crappy 128kbps Xing- encoded mp3 a friend gave me, a CD, or a DAD (16/96).

Well, I'll add a final comment. I find after recording analog to digital (from turntable) it retains its "warm" sound (quite accurately from the analog)... which shouldn't be happening if digital is the issue. So, I don't think digital is the problem .

Actually, there's nothing wrong with liking analog distortions, from tubes or turntables or whatever -- even from headphones. I have a pair of Koss KTX-Pro headphones I use with my portable MP3 player. They lean heavy on the side of bass (maybe even a bit muddy on the low end). Maybe not so good with classical and certain other music where transparency is best, but I happen to like added bass so I like the headphones (probably the best pair of $20 cans on the planet.. midrange/treble are very accurate and overall sound is excellent). I've heard the Koss KTX-Pro and Portapro use the same drivers (but can't verify it).